Trump sets out Mideast vision - backing Arab strongmen against Iran

Trump's attempt to orchestrate a Muslim and Arab coalition against Iran was a repudiation of the regional policy of his predecessor Barack Obama, whose administration held the first direct talks with Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

By swinging American policy back to firm support for the Sunni Arab states, Trump has jettisoned that carefully constructed balance, said Jean-Marc Rickli, Head of Global Risk and Resilience at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

"We are back in the pre-Obama era, on steroids," he said. "Under Obama you had this attempt of the USA playing the external balancer in the region. Now the regional balancer has gone. The balancer has chosen his camp."

Trump told his audience of autocrats: "We are not here to lecture you. We are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be or how to worship."

ABOUT GCSP

The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) is an international foundation established in 1995, with 52 member states, for the primary purpose of promoting peace, security and international cooperation through executive education and training, applied policy analysis and dialogue.